Baby John Review

Baby John is Kalees' homage to Atlee's Theri (2016). Only, the movie is a mechanical mimicry, not a spiritual adaptation.

In the sleepy backwaters of Alappuzha, Kerala, John D'Silva (Varun Dhawan) leads a serene existence as a baker with his six-year-old daughter Khushi (Zara Zyanna). Soft rays of sunset kiss their lakeside home, and life hums along in peaceful monotony. However, when Khushi's teacher Tara (Wamiqa Gabbi) messes with a sex-trafficking gang with Khushi alongside, his violent past comes back to haunt him, and all hell breaks loose.

Baby John doesn't bring anything new to the table except for new action choreography. Gone are the days when Rajinikanth could dance through scene-for-scene remakes of Amitabh Bachchan's movies because no one had seen the original - it's 2024 now. And Theri has already been dubbed into Hindi. And that badly dubbed movie is multifold better than this multi-crore remake.

Then, this movie's story is obsessed with the saviour male. In an age when damsels save themselves, Baby John insists the male messiah still reigns. Keerthy Suresh and Wamiqa Gabbi orbit Varun like distant moons, their gravity insufficient to tug the story in any meaningful direction. Meanwhile, Rajpal Yadav's Ram Sevak basks in more spotlight than both combined.

But let's not forget - vigilante justice never goes out of style. And revenge dramas certainly don't. Baby John leans hard into this vigilante-revenge domain, but fails to deliver. John/Satya can reform criminals with sermons wrapped in bullets, but cannot convince the audience.

Watching Varun transition from doting father to human wrecking ball is exhilarating at first. But like a DJ who can't resist the bass drop, Kalees lets the violence spiral. Babbar Sher (Jackie Shroff) doesn't just flex his villainy - he parades it with grandstanding kicks and over-the-top threats that make you wonder if Shroff was not paid and that's why he's doing all this tamasha.

By the end, the bloodbath feels more like a downpour - and one that you forgot to bring an umbrella for.

Varun Dhawan bleeds sincerity into every frame, sweating and grimacing like a man possessed. However, he's no mass star like Vijay, Rajinikanth or Mahesh Babu. And so the effect is not that massy.

For all his heart, it's Jackie Shroff's soul that lingers. He oozes villainy like the trademark Bollywood villains Amrish Puri and Danny. Shroff has kind of reinvented himself after his heydays of being a hero. And it suits him.

The child actor Zara Zyanna playing Khushi infuses warmth where the screenplay runs cold. Her innocence outshines the overwrought theatrics surrounding her.

The action choreography is fantastic - Sunil Rodrigues crafts fights that crackle louder than firecrackers on Diwali night. And Thaman's thunderous background score shakes the very theatre seats. The songs are however skippable - each musical interlude disrupts the momentum like a poorly timed ad break, and by the second number, you'll be reaching for your phone.

If Theri lingers in your memory like a childhood lullaby, Baby John will feel like the karaoke version - recognizable but missing the magic. For those who never saw the original, it might pass as weekend fare. But if you remember Vijay's swagger from 2016, Baby John is best left uninvited to the party. The choice is yours - watch for Varun's earnest attempt or let this baby stay in the cradle.